Pertamina suspends Blue Sky Project

State-owned oil and gas company has suspended the Blue Sky Project due to lack of funding, according to a senior official.

The Koran Tempo daily quoted general manager of Pertamina's Balongan refinery unit Edi Setianto as saying over the weekend that the project was assigned by the government to be carried out by Pertamina when the company had not become a limited liability company. But after Pertamina turned into a corporation last year, the government stopped providing the necessary funding, prompting the Pertamina management to suspend the project.

The Blue Sky Project is aimed at boosting the use of unleaded gasoline by motorists in the country as part of efforts to reduce air pollution. The program was started in 2001 in Jakarta, and was supposed to be extended to other parts of the country.(*)